Chapter 1822: War Preparations

Almost at the same time, in the capital city of Yierlan, the tree-city of Taiweimansa.

Ambassador Weilin left the Mianwang Gongting with a face full of anger, not even caring that he had knocked over two pedestrians, and did not stop until he returned to the Yierlan embassy in Taiweimansa and set up protective measures; only then did the angry look on his face slowly fade.

Subsequently, the communication was connected, and the figures of the consultants from Ailintar appeared beside the ambassador. The ambassador bowed and said in a calm tone:

"Crown King Helien has just refused to see me for the fifth time. Clearly, he knows why I am looking for him. Avoiding me can only mean they have a guilty conscience. Even if the anomaly at the World Spine was not orchestrated by them, it certainly has something to do with them."

The consultants were not at all surprised to hear this news; after all, as early as the beginning of the anomaly, the Executive Advisory Group had already reached a conclusion, almost locking onto Yierlan.

Now, it was merely pushing the suspicion a bit higher, which would not change Yierlan's decision-making.

Only one Executive Consultant in charge of diplomatic affairs spoke up and asked Weilin: "Anything else?"

"There is also the recent atmosphere in Taiweimansa."

Weilin hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to bring it up, because he knew his answer might very well influence the judgment of those above, and he was not entirely certain of his own conclusion. If he misjudged, the impact could be far-reaching, and negative at that.

Seeming to see through Weilin's worries, the same Executive Consultant in charge of diplomacy spoke again, "Do not have any doubts. We will repeatedly analyze any situation you describe, so just speak."

"Yes, Executive."

Weilin felt a sense of relief, bowed again, and then began to recount the situation he had seen over the past few days:

"The atmosphere in Taiweimansa has become a bit tense recently. Many workshops with military production qualifications have started rushing work, suspected of having received large orders, and I also heard a rumor."

"What rumor?"

"A member of an Upper Family got drunk at a banquet and mentioned that those stubborn elements in Siluwende would not be able to jump around for much longer. Combined with Crown King Helien's attitude and the recent movements in Taiweimansa, I suspect Yierlan is making war preparations, perhaps for the Ancient Fortress, or perhaps to completely resolve Siluwende."

By the end, Weilin himself felt a bit alarmed. He knew the Northern Elf Kingdoms were recently preparing to compete for that newly discovered Ancient Fortress, which might lead to some conflicts, but that was still a far cry from war.

Yet, Yierlan's various actions made it hard for him not to suspect war.

On the other side of the communication, the Executive Consultants in Ailintar also showed a rare expression of surprise after hearing Weilin's speculation.

One of the Executive Consultants in charge of war even let out a cold snort, "It looks like they had planned this long ago!"

In front of Weilin, the other consultants did not refute, nor did they voice support. The same Executive Consultant in charge of diplomacy spoke:

"Master Weilin, you have done well. Next, pay attention to collecting more intelligence in this regard, while also keeping in touch with Ailintar. Take care of your safety. Goodbye!"

"Yes, Consultant, goodbye!"

Weilin bowed again and then terminated the communication. Only after the image from Ailintar completely disappeared did he sit back down in his seat and fall into deep thought.

At the same time, Xierdalanna, who had returned to Taiweimansa, was crying and fussing about how to probe Crown King Helien's attitude toward Demon Descendant Elves and the mysterious organization, while paying little attention to the recent changes in the atmosphere of Taiweimansa.

On the other side, the High Mage of Keman, Ailikante, the uncle of Prince Saier, finally broke through layers of obstacles and discovered traces of Netheril Magic at the scene of the prince's disappearance at the Asikeer Courage Arena.

Although those traces did not even count as circumstantial evidence, the prince was of great importance, and this bit of suspicion was enough for Ailikante to take action.

Almost the moment he discovered the traces, he submitted an entry application to the Seventon Council through the Keman embassy, and at the same time, he did not forget to have his subordinates continue the investigation.

If there are traces of Netheril Magic, there must be related Spellcasters. Finding the Spellcaster is the most direct evidence. Before that, if the problem could be solved just by applying pressure, Ailikante would be happy to save the trouble.

The situation in the Northland is treacherous and unpredictable, but for Xia Duo at this moment, the disturbances of the outside world are not on his mind. He is very clear that he cannot truly influence the situation in the Northland right now.

Compared to racking his brains to stir up trouble in the coming changes, it is better to seize the time to strengthen himself. Without strength, everything is empty.

As for how to strengthen his own power, Xia Duo ruled out individual strength first. He has already reached the ceiling of strength within the Netheril Magic System.

Unless there is a breakthrough in the magic system itself, or he finds a legendary Artifact, it is very difficult for individual strength to have any qualitative change.

Even if there were, individual power is still too small to contend with the general trend.

But a Floating City is different. Once built, it is almost an Artifact. Perhaps it is still hard to contend with the general trend, but he feels he can use it to master his own destiny.

And now, besides the construction itself, Xia Duo's Floating City construction is missing only the Myth Lock. For him now, the Floating City Mythallar has difficulties but is by no means impossible to complete.

In other words, the only thing he lacks is time—the time to complete the Myth Lock Design, and the time for actual construction.

Because the latter must be completed on the Material Plane, unless the time flow is adjusted, he can only put effort into manpower and coordination to improve efficiency.

But the Myth Lock Design does not necessarily require resources from the Material Plane. Without a doubt, Xia Duo once again set his sights on the place where he got his start—

The Projection Plane!

Netherese Mages do not like to explore the Projection Plane. On one hand, projections are random, and it is hard to encounter intelligent creatures, let alone come into contact with magic.

On the other hand, the time flow in the Projection Plane is extremely fast compared to the Main Plane, which is equivalent to compressing future time. If one can gain something, it does not matter, but if there is no gain, it is purely a waste of life.

But for Xia Duo, these two shortcomings are not problems.

As for the randomness issue, he has projected many times and has never encountered non-intelligent creatures. Although he cannot guarantee it will be the same in the future, at least for now, it gives him a certain amount of confidence before any accidents occur.

As for the time flow issue, after multiple Bloodline Awakenings, Xia Duo has almost reached the peak of his own bloodline, and lifespan is simply not an issue.

At least one or two relatively long-term explorations of the Projection Plane are of no pressure to him.

People and equipment are not problems. The only problem now is the Projection Plane itself. Although the Tower of Time is cultivating Astral Mages, the growth of Astral Mages also takes time.

As of now, it takes the Tower of Time about a month to discover a Projection Plane. Even if Xia Duo participates in the discovery himself, it is hard to have any qualitative improvement.

It depends more on luck.

So Xia Duo is currently building the Floating City on the Blue Crystal Plane while waiting for news from the Tower Spirit. At the same time, he has set a bottom line for himself: if a Projection Plane has not been discovered before the existing engineering of the Floating City is completed, he will go to the Arcane Union.

At most, he will trouble Iolum again, asking him to protect him during that brief moment of weakness when he returns from the Projection Plane.

Of course, if possible, Xia Duo still hopes to conduct it at the Tower of Time.